


Learning to Live Again

by All_Of_The_Heros



Series: Yu-Gi-0h Connected Universe [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Egyptian Deities, Crushes, Drinking, Drinking Games, Egypt, F/M, Fate, Friends to Lovers, Love, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Protective Yami Yuugi, Unplanned Pregnancy, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, drunk sex is mentioned, egyptian deities mess with your life, i make no promises on accuracy, let's try this again i accidentally deleted all of my tags, mutual crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-06-23 15:10:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19703929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_Of_The_Heros/pseuds/All_Of_The_Heros
Summary: It didn’t seem like it should have been five years since he’d lived in the millennium puzzle. Atem hadn’t been sure he’d have been able to cope with the sudden shift in his world if it wasn’t for you. He’d never planed on telling you that he loved you, but will one drunken night change all that?





	1. Drinking Games Never End Well.

**Author's Note:**

> I am going to be using the names from the dub, I'm American, and it is easier for me than having to look up the names all the time to make sure that I am spelling them right. I apologize if it bugs anybody, but I'm mostly writing this for fun anyway.

Atem still wasn’t sure what had happened, but when he walked into the door that was supposed to take him to the afterlife, he was spat back out as flesh and blood, perhaps the goddess Isis had returned him to life just as she had her husband, Osiris. Atem would never forget the look his friends had given him when he’d walked out from the door that was supposed to take him to the afterlife.

Atem knew that there was no way that this was his original vessel because that had been mummified long ago, no this body was new. This fact was only confirmed when Atem had discovered that he was missing the scar he’d gotten during his sword training. Other than that, it was an exact replica of the one he’d had before he’d died.

All he knew was that he was gifted with a second chance at life, not something many others had received, so Atem was determined to live it to the fullest. The first thing he had done was to see what had become of his homeland, and he hated to say it but broke his heart to see the Nile, a giver of life and prosperity so polluted. Not that it hadn’t been before, there was a reason that his people had drunk weak beer instead of water, but it was just so much worse now. Even though Atem knew he had to move on because dwelling on what was would only get in the way of what could be. Maybe he’d been in denial about how much he missed home.

It had been five years since his resurrection, and you had decided that that was worth celebrating. You would have invited the rest of the group, but you and Atem had moved to America for college. Yes, you read that right the nameless pharaoh, great and powerful former king of Egypt was in college, but that’s not the point right now.

The two of you had just come back from dinner, but you weren’t ready for the night to end just yet. “I propose a game for old times' sake,” You said holding up a bottle of vodka that you’d retrieved from the tv stand “and no not a shadow game Atem I see that smirk.”

“I couldn’t conjure a shadow game anymore if I wanted to. I lost that power with the millennium puzzle,” Atem said with a shrug as he went to fetch the shot glasses, this was hardly the first drink the two of you has shared since you had agreed to be his roommate, mostly for Atems’ sake because you were initially from America and understood the culture.

You knew what it was like to move to a new country, not knowing anybody because you had moved to Japan when your father transferred to the main branch of Kaiba Corp. You’d had planned on moving back to the states for college anyway, and at least between you and Atem, you’d managed to avoid having to live in the dorms.

“How about a game of higher or lower?” You asked as he came back into the room glasses in hand.

“That’s fine but, fair warning,” Atem said as placed the shot glasses on the coffee table sitting in the floor as to be able to reach the cards properly. “In ancient Egypt, we had an entire festival dedicated to getting blackout drunk.” And sex he thought, but he decided not to mention that bit, afraid of ruining the lighthearted atmosphere.

“That I would have loved to have seen.” You laughed as you sat across from him and drew the first card.

(sometime later)

“I think that the next card is going to be Higher.” You giggled as you swayed back and forth, staring at the five of diamonds that Atem had drawn. Atem didn’t seem to any less drunk then you as it took him a few attempts to draw the top card but then when he did manage to flip it over it revealed a three of hearts. You took your shot like a champ, and then suddenly a thought crossed your mind. “We need music,” You slurred out as you stumbled over to your phone and turned on some random pop dance song. Game abandoned you started to drunkenly dance along to the music somehow pulling Atem up to dance with you.

At least that’s the last thing you remember doing, before waking completely naked, hungover, and held in a vice grip by an equally nude Atem. As embarrassing as it was to have obviously just had a one night stand with a dear friend, you also wish you could remember it, because you had a bet going with Joey on whether or not Atem was into kinky shit and fuck all if this wasn’t going to be your only chance to find out. Wait, scratch that you still had slight bruises on wrists that looked suspiciously like he’d used his belt to tie you up. Bondage was kinky right? Joey so owed you fifty bucks.

It took another second for your brain to fully wake up, fuck you’d slept with one of your best friends. A string of expletives ran through your mind. Wait you thought if I can’t remember it maybe he won’t either. All you’d have to do is just get out of here before he wakes up. You hated to admit it to yourself, but you’d had a crush on him for the past few years now. Nevertheless, you always squashed that thought down Atem was strong, confident, and smart he could have almost anyone he wanted, why would he choose plain old you?

A groggy groan left Atems throat as he buried his face into your hair and pulled his arms even tighter around you. “My head is killing me.” His morning voice sent a shiver down your spine even if it was laced with pain.

He didn’t seem shocked to be waking up next to you, so the chances were that he remembered what happened details and all, so even if you’d left before he’d woke up there would have been no avoiding the awkwardness.

“If you remember what happened after we started dancing, you’ve won last night’s game.”

Atem’s voice was bewitching as he whispered the whole thing in your ear about how the two of you had danced seductively for a couple of songs before you said you’d always wondered if his confidence carried over to the bedroom and how you’d had more than one wet dream about him fucking you into the mattress.

By this point, in his explanation, Atem’s hands were roaming over every bit of your skin that he could reach, and that made fire burn in your cheeks, as well as places you didn’t care to think about.

Then his alarm went off; for some reason, he was reluctant to let you go. “Unfortunately, we have to leave for work,” Atem said dejectedly, you groaned as he stood up to prepare for the day ahead.

First, there was work, Atem was a cashier at a gas station, and you were a waitress at a sleazy truck stop. Neither of those was ideal jobs, but it paid the bills. After work, the two of you had class, with Atem in being an environmental science student and you being pre-law two of you lead busy lives with little free time, but that would change when you graduated. You hoped. Ok maybe that was delusional, but a girl can dream, can’t she?


	2. In All My Dreams

“My King,” You whispered as you came up behind the pharaoh, wrapping your arms around his waist. Placing gentle kisses on his neck, “Can’t you take a moment's rest?” Atem groaned as you nibbled at his earlobe for effect. He turned to face you the woman he loved enough to break the taboo that said he couldn’t marry a commoner, that it would taint his bloodline, but you could never taint anything, you were the light to his darkness. His hope when he had none, you soothed him when the weight of his crown became too much to bear alone.

Atem took in the sight of you, you looked gorgeous draped in the finest of linens while gold and jewels drip like water from your body, but the crowning glory was quite literally the diadem that rested atop your head. You were his queen, that thought alone was enough to have him place a searing kiss on your lips.

“For you, my Queen, always,” His voice was breathy as he took your hand and led you off to the royal bedchambers and made love to you.

Atem woke to the ringing of his alarm; it’d been a month since he’d had you in this bed. Now that he knew for a fact what you looked like without your clothes and all the pretty noises you made his dreams about you have been more frequent and realistic than before.

Atem would never say it out loud, but he loved you, he’d liked you even when he had shared a body with Yugi, but after he had his own flesh those feeling of like quickly swerved into love. Atem recalled the night that he realized how he felt about you.

He’d only been human for a few months he’d been able to start school immediately thanks to the knowledge he’d gained while sharing a body with Yugi as well as the fake identity Kaiba had helped him set up, as far as the world knew he was Atem Muto, Yugi's’ Egyptian cousin. Atem had been grateful for the help, but no one knew how to comfort him during the inevitable culture shock, sure he’d experienced some of the world through Yugi and had basic knowledge of how things worked, but it still didn’t feel like home.

You’d been the closest to knowing how he felt having come from America for you fathers’ job, even if your displacement hadn’t been to the same degree you knew what it was like to have everything around you suddenly so different.

The night that he finally admitted to feeling out of place was one of healing.

_He found himself laying down on the roof of the game shop, it was a favorite spot of his. It was where he went when he needed to process the day’s events, or when thoughts of home plagued his mind. The Moon was full above domino, Atem noted as he looked toward the heavens he found comfort in that act. Even if the light pollution drowned out the stars, the moon was always the same, it’d been the one that he’d seen all his life, the one he’d continue to see no matter where time would take him._

_“It’s a nice night, isn’t it?” You said as you climbed out onto the roof and sat down beside Atem so close he could feel the warmth radiating off your body._

_“It is,” Atem agreed, forcing a smile as he propped himself up on his arms and looked over at you._

_“Don’t,” you said your voice coming out harsher than you’d intended._

_“Don’t what?” Atem asked, pretending to be confused. He knew what you were talking about._

_“Don’t pretend that you’re alright when you’re so clearly not.” You bit out._

_“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Atem was still trying to deny that he was anything but happy about being alive again._

_“I’m talking about you pretending like you’re not hurting when you so clearly are.” You threw your hands up in the air a clear sign of your exasperation. “Atem, I get it you don’t want your friends to worry but guess what we are. It doesn’t take a genius to see that you’re miserable. Hell, if anyone here understands what you’re going through it would be me.”_

_“So, you were brought back from the dead, with no clear reason as to how or why, and are expected to carry on with life even though you ache for home so desperately you feel the pain all the way down to your bones,” Atem snarled as he sat up._

_He regretted the callousness of his words as soon as they left his mouth, but you just threw your head back and laughed. “I knew I’d get you to talk about it eventually.” Atem was floored, you’d planned to trick him, and more impressively you’d pulled it off._

_“In all seriousness Atem, you need to talk to someone,” You placed a hand on his forearm, your thumb rubbing slow, soothing circles into his flesh. “I don’t care who, just please talk, we want you to be happy.” You paused and thought about what you were going to say next. “I want you to be happy.” He could see tears pricking the corners of your eyes. Something in Atems chest twisted at the thought that he’d made you cry. He knew then that what he felt was more than a crush. He loved you, and that was the most terrifying thing he’d ever experienced._

_“Ok,” Atem breathed, still floored at his realization. “I’ll talk to you about it.” He poured his soul out to you, telling you everything as the two of you bathed in moonlight._

_Well, everything except that he loved you. He’d keep that revelation to himself, Atem thought determinedly._


	3. Being positive isn't always expected

Today was your day off, you went about your morning as usual, eating breakfast with Atem until he left for work, the two of you making idle conversation between bites of oatmeal. Things had been a little awkward the first few days after sleeping together, but after that settled down everything went back to normal.

That’s why you decided against telling him your period was late, no point in making things awkward again when in all likelihood it was just stress. If by some unlikely twist of fate, the pregnancy test you’d planned to buy today did come out positive then, of course, you'd tell him, but otherwise, he'd never know about this little scare.

A few hours after Atem left, you made your way to the nearby corner store. The only reason you even thought of the place was that it was close, it also helped that Atem had refused to shop there since the owner's wife had called you a wanton harlot for living with a man you weren’t married to. She most definitely lived up to the stereotype being a judgmental old crone. You could only imagine what she’d call you when you walk up to the register with a pregnancy test. To your surprise, she wasn’t there when you walked in, but rather the owner himself stood behind the counter looking rather tired.

“Congrats,” he said, no sound of mocking in his tone as he ran the test over the scanner along with a few other things you’d decided to pick up.

“Thanks.” You expected that to be the end of the conversation, but surprisingly, it wasn’t.

“Is it that Egyptian fellas?” The store owner asked when you nodded, he continued, “That’s good, despite what my soon to be ex-wife says, he seems like a good man, and I bet he’ll make a wonderful father.” You’d never really thought about what kind of parent Atem would be; you knew he’d do anything to protect those he cared for but did that equate to being a good father?

“You left her, good for you, no offense but she seemed like a real bitch.” It wasn’t until it left your mouth you realized how offensive what you’d just said might come across.

“She is that and a hypocrite, the only reason I married her was because I knocked her up. Things were different back then mind you.” You thanked him for his time and left. You were slightly anxious about all of this, after having purchased the test, it seemed more real. The chances of you being pregnant were slim, but if you were, what would you do? Thinking about it made your head spin, so you decided to cross that bridge if you came to it.

Once you got home, you decided that there was no point in waiting ripping off the Band-Aid would cause you a lot less stress. So, you took the test after reading the directions twice and watching the manufactures instructional video. (You really wanted to make sure that you didn’t screw this up.) Now you were left to pace for three minutes while you waited for the results. When the time was up, you found yourself sprinting into the bathroom, swallowing your nerves, you slowly brought the test to eye level, looking at the digital screen. The word pregnant glared you in the face, after setting the test back on the sink you took a few shaky steps over to the tub where you sank down two the floor with your back leaning against it.

As far as you knew you had three options, keeping the baby, but would you have time for that you barely had time to take care of yourself, let alone a baby. Even if you did have the time, would you be a good mother? You could put the baby up for adoption, but you didn’t know if you’d be able to give it up after growing it inside you for nine months.

Just as you were starting to think about abortion, you found yourself looking at a woman with the head of a frog, that should have weirded you out, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to be concerned over her appearance.

“I know this is scary,” the woman spoke with an ethereal voice that turned your brain to mush. “But this child is destined to do great things, that is why my husband and I convinced Isis and Ra to bring back the pharaoh.” The frog woman knelt before you and placed a hand on your stomach, stroking it lovingly, “This child is my husband’s best work yet. A true masterpiece.”

“What if I’m not a good mother?” Your voice sounded weak and frightened as you spoke.

“You will be, or else we would not have chosen you to bear this child.” The frog woman’s voice was soft now, comforting even.

You vaguely recognized the sound of the front door opening in the back of your mind; this seemed to startle the nice frog lady. “I must go, I’m sorry to say that you won’t remember this, but the idea of what we talked about will still be in the back of your mind.” She declared quickly before despairing into thin air.

/-/-/-/

“I’m home,” Atem called as he placed his keys in the dish by the door figuring you were home when he saw your purse thrown on the sofa. He’d been anxious during the entire bus ride and now that you weren’t responding the feeling of something being wrong was unpalatable.

Trying not to overreact Atem forced himself calmly search the apartment for you. He wasn’t expecting to find you zonked out on the bathroom floor. Fearing the worst Atem felt dread bubble in his chest.

“What’s wrong?” Atem asked, forcing the fear down and projecting the strong, confident aura he usually had. He was confused for half a second when you pointed to the sink, but then he saw it and the word on the display. Atem allowed himself to be relieved for half a second, you weren’t hurt, but then it hit him, pregnant, you were pregnant, presumably with his child. He was going to be a father.


	4. Decisions Decisions

Atem felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs, He was going to be a father, but then he remembered that you were the one most affected by the situation. He wasn’t the one that would have to carry the child for nine months or make one of the hardest decisions on the planet. Atem thought he had it easy compared to you.  
Taking a deep breath, Atem sat down and pulled you into his lap using his limbs to create a protective bubble around you.  
He wasn’t sure how long the two of you sat there before he spoke, “Whatever you decided to do, I’ll support you.”  
“No matter what?” You asked him as thoughts flew around in your mind at a hundred miles an hour. Atem nodded and tightened his grip just slightly.  
“What if I decided I want to keep it?”  
“I’ll be happy to spend the rest of my life helping take care of them.”  
“And if I don’t?”  
“I’ll be there to hold your hand the entire time.” Hearing Atem say that he’d support you no matter the choice you made took a bit of the weight off your chest. You weren’t going to be doing this alone, but you still had to decide what to do.  
On one hand you didn’t know if you could take care of a baby given your lifestyle right now, but on the other hand, something in the back of your mind was scratching telling you to keep the child. That it was destined for greater things then you could even imagine.  
Your stomach decided that your brain need a break apparently because it growled with enough ferocity to remind you that you hadn’t eaten since breakfast.  
“Sounds like someone’s hungry,” Atem said playfully as he kissed the top of your head.  
“Extremely,” You said with a laugh trying to shove down your nerves, but it didn’t work for long they returned as soon as you were on your feet again.  
Leading you to the living room Atem told you to sit down, and that he’d handle making dinner tonight, that you’ve had a long day. You weren’t an idiot; he was being protective. If you were a betting person, you’d say he was in there with his phone right now googling what pregnant women shouldn’t eat.  
You understood where he was coming from, right now, you didn’t know whether or not you were keeping it. Wasn’t it better to behave as if you were and then decided you weren’t, then to act as if you weren’t and later decide that you did want to keep it only for something terrible to happen because of how you acted during your early pregnancy? This same rule applied to adoption as well, you would hate for something to happen to the baby if you did decide to adopt it out.  
That brought up the thought again were you going to keep this baby, or not. You had to decide soon because if you were, there were things like prenatal care that you had to worry about. That brought a thought to your mind, what if by some miracle the test had been a false positive, but something in your gut told you that wouldn’t be likely.  
You heard the clatter of pots and pans coming from the kitchen as Atem finally started cooking, now that he was done with his frantic googling.  
Atem was freaking out now that he didn't have to act put together for your sake, a father he was going to be a father if you decide to keep the baby that is. He wasn’t sure how to feel about either idea, don’t get him wrong he loved the idea of having kids, he adored the idea of having kids with you even more.  
He also worried about if he would be able to take care of a child. If the two of you had been in ancient Egypt the answer would have been a resounding yes, he’d been the pharaoh, the second he found out you were pregnant Atem could have had an entire flock of servant’s tending to your every whim, but he wasn’t the pharaoh anymore. He was a broke college student who hardly had time to take care of himself, how would he be able to take care of a baby and keep up with his classes.  
Atem wondered if he agreed to duel Kaiba again if he might be able to finagle use of the Kaiba Corp daycare. That would cover work and class hours. Atem began thoroughly cooking scrambled eggs after he realized he was getting ahead of himself, for now, he didn’t even know if you were keeping your pregnancy.  
After ensuring that they were totally cooked (The google search he’d done said that egg yolks had to be completely cooked.) Atem carried two plates out to the living room, handing one to you along with the bottle of ketchup before he sat down beside you.  
The two of you ate in silence, unable to stop thinking about what to do.  
“I think I want to keep the baby,” You said your voice barely a whisper as you placed your hand on your stomach. you didn’t know why, but you felt something in your heart telling you that it was meant to be this way there were bigger things in store for this child then you could even comprehend.  
Atem smiled softly at you and placed his hand on top of yours, “Alright then, I guess we need to find you and our baby a doctor.” Our baby, you smiled at the thought that he’d said that almost immediately, you felt stupid for the doubt you hadn’t even realized you’d felt. This was Atem for heaven's sake, he was as good as his word if he said something, he meant it, and Atem told you that he was going to help care for this child.  
“Oh god, I just realized something,” You said, throwing your head back and groaning because of annoyance.  
“What,”  
“We’re going to have to tell my father.” If Atem had been a lesser man, he would have bolted out the door. Your father was known to be majorly overprotective having raised you himself after your mother disappeared not long after you were born, but Atem didn’t run he accepted his fate and steeled himself for what he knew was coming in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this work so far consider checking out its sister story, Life Knowing the Kaiba's. Will there be more in the Yu-Gi-Oh connected universe? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe, I have an idea for Joey brewing in the back of my mind, but we will see. (Let me know if that's something you'd like to read.)


End file.
